Marijuana Use
Marijuana Use
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Marijuana is a dry, green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves that come from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC for short.
People most commonly use marijuana by smoking it (although some people use marijuana oil for inhaling and cooking). They smoke marijuana either in the form of a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. Marijuana is also used in blunts. Blunts of marijuana are cigars that have been emptied of the tobacco and refilled with a mixture of marijuana and tobacco. Marijuana use in this way combines its active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be used by mixing it with food or brewed into tea. A more potent form or marijuana is known as hashish, which consists of the resin from marijuana plants. Hashish is either sticky and black or in a liquid or oil form.
Marijuana use affects many different parts of the body. Other the years scientists have learned a lot about the ways that marijuana use affects the brain. When uses marijuana by smoking it, the THC quickly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream. From there the bloodstream carries the THC to the brain and other organs throughout the body. Marijuana use acts upon specific spots in the brain known as cannabinoid receptors, this is what creates the “high” that marijuana use is known for. The highest concentration of cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentrating, sensory, time perception, and coordinated movement.
Marijuana use can also cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Chronic marijuana users find that marijuana use has bigger impacts on them. For instance, long term marijuana use can impact learning and memory for days or even weeks. Marijuana use for a long time can also cause someone to function at a less than optimal intellectual level all of the time. Heavy marijuana users may also have to deal several important measures of their life being affected such as: life achievement, physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status.
Long term marijuana use can lead to addiction. Those who continue on with their marijuana use despite of knowing the consequences and harmful effects most likely have marijuana addiction. These people continue on with their marijuana use despite negative consequences with work, school, recreational activities, family, emotional issues etc. Long term marijuana use can also lead to withdrawal symptoms if the marijuana user ever tries to quit. Marijuana use withdrawal symptoms can include: irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and craving for more marijuana. These withdrawal symptoms can make it extremely hard to stop any kind of marijuana use forever. Marijuana use withdrawal symptoms can last from 1 day up to 2 weeks.
Marijuana use is more widespread than ever. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2009 alone, 16.7 million Americans, aged 12 and up used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed. This is an increase of marijuana use from 2002-2008. There has also been an increase in young people using marijuana, with those aged 12-17. In 2008, 6.7 percent of young adults aged 12-17 had used marijuana at least once and in 2009 that number was up to 7.3 percent. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh.htm.